Police in Thailand's capital say a pro-government activist who opposed a law punishing critics of the monarchy has been shot dead.
Police Col. Thanawat Watthanakul says Kamol Duangphasuk was shot by unidentified gunmen Wednesday in a restaurant parking lot in northern Bangkok. The victim, a poet also known as Mainueng Kor Khuntee, was a member of the Red Shirt political movement, which supports the return of self-exiled former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, brother of current Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
While there was no immediate indication of who committed the slaying, Mainueng was known as an active opponent of Thailand's lese majeste law, which carries severe punishment against anyone who defames or insults the country's monarchy. A vigilante group recently threatened to hunt down people perceived as opposing the monarchy. --AP